Episode 8 of Archive 81 commences with Melody imprisoned against her will. Steven's sudden appearance reveals his knowledge of Samuel's true identity, once known as Alexander Davenport, the historian he had been corresponding with, delving into the mysteries of the Baldung. Fearing for Melody's safety, Steven brings her to a psychiatric ward, hoping to shelter her from Alexander's sinister ritual. Yet, Melody's trust in those around her has been shattered.
Instead of freedom, Steven leads Melody to an adjacent room, where she finds Annabelle feverishly scribbling Iris's face on the walls. Tragically, Steven takes their reunion as an opportunity to slam the door shut and lock it behind him. Alone, Annabelle claims the ferryman was there earlier and tonight is the crucial hour for the ritual to unfold. The comet soaring overhead serves as a beacon, signaling the perfect moment for Iris to be freed and returned to our world.
We shift focus to Dan and Mark, as Melody's only hope lies in Dan's ability to bring her back. Meanwhile, Jess, still alive, has left behind a box of tapes for the pair. She has embraced a new identity as Sister Mary Cecilia, a nun. Dan returns home with the tapes, utilizing an old Fisher Price camera to decode their secrets. Surprisingly, these cassettes are only compatible with this particular model, and coincidentally, Dan possesses one. His job at a tape-handling firm notwithstanding, this discovery is indeed remarkable.
The grainy black-and-white footage depicts Melody returning to the Visser apartment. This is a clandestine tape, and Melody solemnly declares that if any harm befalls her, Samuel shall be held accountable. She ascends to the sixth floor, determined to find Jess.
It transpires that Jess is indeed in that decrepit apartment, and Melody sneaks in through the window. Jess inquiries if Melody is "part of this" before revealing that this is her destined path, a blessing to be received. However, she is blissfully unaware that this blessing will lead to her throat being slit and her life being sacrificed. Jess remains adamant that this is not the case, but her mind has clearly been warped. Melody manages to usher Jess out the window, only to be taken as the sacrificial lamb in her stead. Knocked unconscious by John Smith, Melody is dragged to the basement. The so-called "vessel" was merely a decoy to lure Melody in, and she has fallen for it, helplessly ensnared.
With Jess's absence, Tamara stepped into her shoes, the necklace gracefully draped around her neck. Melody screamed for assistance, yet her cries were silenced as she was propelled forward, her blood spilling onto the statue, fulfilling the sinister ritual. Tamara followed suit, her throat sliced without mercy. And just then, Iris materialized behind the ethereal white veil, with Jess capturing the entire ghastly scene on film. Their escape was merely a fleeting illusion.
The video then warped, returning to Dan and Mark's realm. Mark dissected the timeline, unraveling a tangled web of events. It seemed they had stumbled upon a portal to Kaelego's hometown, a realm known as the Other World. This ritual was a gateway between two dimensions, and the white veil was a fleeting intersection, a bridge between realities.
Melody, it dawned on them, was trapped in the Other World. All her pleas to Dan, the visions he had witnessed, were cries for help from a distant dimension. This all traced back to 1924, when Iris attempted to draw Kaelego into their world but was instead pulled into his. When the ritual was reignited by Samuel/Alexander, Iris materialized before them, and perhaps Melody was drawn in too, along with Samuel.
Now, the only salvation lay in Dan's ability to convince Virgil Davenport to halt his brother's madness and rescue Melody. As Dan approached Virgil's compound, he revealed the existence of another tape, showing Virgil the ritual's gruesome details. Before proceeding, Dan delved deeper into the mystery, uncovering that his father, Steven, had hidden the tapes in a storage facility. In doing so, Steven and Dan's family perished in a fire ignited by fanatics desperate to summon a demon. Dan's survival was sheer luck; he was never meant to escape.
Dan attempted to broker a deal, reminding Virgil that Samuel was also trapped in the Other World. But Virgil drew a gun, intent on firing. Fortunately, Mark intervened, knocking Virgil out cold.
Dan hastened into the chapel, grabbing a vial of blood from the refrigerator. With the tape's knowledge, the ancient tomes he had studied, and the necessary artifacts in hand, he was certain he could replicate the ritual and bring Melody back.
Right when Bobbi makes her appearance, armed with a gun, it becomes evident that her intentions are far from sincere. She vows that the current plan will not succeed and flaunts a tuner, a key that, as it transpires, can only be wielded by a Baldung. And who would have guessed? Bobbi is, in fact, a Baldung herself! Davenport was merely a pawn in her scheme, a means for her to infiltrate the mysteries unfolding here. Her ultimate goal is to liberate Melody, and as her true identity comes to light, it's revealed that she's not Bobbi at all—she's Julia, Melody's mother. Yes, Melody's mother has been among us, concealed in plain sight, for all these years.
Julia initially surrendered her daughter to shield her from the cult-like clutches of this organization. However, her efforts failed due to Melody's perceived powers. Now, trapped in this web, Julia has been working tirelessly for the past 25 years to free her daughter, but only after the right pieces of the puzzle—Dan, Davenport, and others—fell into place.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this suggests that the entire comet fiasco was a mere distraction—it never was the true objective. Not according to the revelations made by these individuals. Bobbi activates the portal and warns Dan that he has five minutes to make his way there and back, ideally with Melody in tow. She further cautions him that Kaelego will try to entice him to stay, but he must follow the familiar melody of the tuner to find his way back.
Dan plunges into this Otherworld, where the laws of nature are bent, and time does not flow in a linear fashion. Miraculously, he finds Melody sitting in a chapel, inexplicably intertwined with the apartment complex. Melody claims she's "waiting for her," a clear reference to her mother, whom she had left behind as a baby. As the bells begin to toll, Dan grabs Melody's hand and rushes back to their world.
On the TV, a camera feed shows the compound in chaos. Kaelego appears, Samuel too, and the situation escalates rapidly. Melody is pulled out of the Other World, but Dan loses his grasp on her hand and seemingly remains trapped within. Back in our world, Mark is dumbfounded and shocked; Dan and Samuel have vanished. Melody is reunited with her mother, but the joy is overshadowed by the loss they have suffered.
As Mark calls out for Dan, we flashback to find him in a hospital bed. He awakens to a TV blaring a news report about Kurt Cobain's death. The date reads 1994. Dan stares outside, horrified to realize he's in a different era. The reflection on the adjacent window outlines the Twin Towers. It's clear that he's still entangled with the demon in the Other World.
